Yan the Imperial Physician and Chief Physician Hu were arguing frantically: "No, if we give him fever medication, the parasitic worms will lose control, and if they reach His Majesty's digestive system, the Emperor will be tortured to death."
"But without reducing the fever, the parasitic worms will sense the host's elevated body temperature and break through the flesh. Once they break through, the wounds will never heal - that's also a death sentence!"
"And to make matters worse, he injured his arm last night. The parasitic worms are attached to His Majesty's left arm, feeding on its nutrients, making the bones extremely fragile. Any medicine we use will only excite the worms further."
"If this won't work, and that won't work, then..."
"Let's cure the parasitic poison first."
Jiang Xinyue waved her hand, and Tang Shiliang stepped forward holding a small box. When Yan the Imperial Physician and Chief Physician Hu saw it, their eyes lit up: "Official Jiang, Eunuch Tang, are you certain?"
There were thousands of types of Miao tribal poisons, and the poison women, being isolated from the outside world, were mostly eccentric in nature. They feared it might be a trick.
Jiang Yankun gave a strange look at the blushing Tang Shiliang: "Don't worry! This antidote was obtained by Eunuch Tang's sacrifice of his dignity. That Miao woman was so deeply in love with him, she wouldn't give us a fake."
Tang Shiliang's face grew even redder.
Chief Physician Hu and Yan the Imperial Physician exchanged glances, stealing curious looks at Tang Shiliang.
However, the Emperor's condition was the most pressing matter, so they suppressed their curiosity and took out the black bottle from the box to administer it to the Emperor.
Jiang Xinyue stood by the bed, wrinkling her nose at the medicine's foul smell. The fever-stricken Emperor suddenly opened his eyes and leaned over the bed, vomiting large amounts of black blood.
A red worm the size of a fingernail crawled out of the black blood, seemingly trying to escape, but after a few steps, its body exploded, splattering black fluid all over Jiang Yankun.
"Eunuch Wang, bring water for His Majesty to rinse his mouth."
In his daze, the Emperor heard Jiang Xinyue's voice and became slightly more lucid: "Didn't I tell you not to come? Why did you still come?"
Jiang Xinyue, appearing jealous, pulled off the handkerchief bound to his arm and threw it on the ground: "My father and Eunuch Tang have returned from the Miao territory, so naturally, I should be by Your Majesty's side to ensure your safety firsthand."
"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."
The Xuanwu Emperor felt his entire body aching, and despite it being summer, he couldn't stop shivering.
"Your Highness, water..."
Jiang Xinyue quickly brought it to the Emperor's lips. Wang Dequan caught the rinse water with an empty cup, wiped the Emperor's mouth clean with a handkerchief, and then Jiang Xinyue wrapped him tightly in blankets.
The fever-reducing medicine was already prepared, but earlier the two physicians had been arguing so intensely that the medical maid hadn't dared to bring it forward.
Now that the parasitic poison was neutralized and there was no longer any danger to his life, Chief Physician Hu quickly brought the medicine for the Emperor to drink.
After the Emperor fell asleep, Jiang Xinyue left the imperial chambers with Jiang Yankun. The Qu family was still kneeling outside, though they appeared to be barely holding on - they would likely be carried away by evening.
The Emperor's illness had come at such an inconvenient time, leaving the Qu family helpless.
What use was kneeling and begging?
The Emperor himself couldn't even get out of bed.
In the Emperor's chambers, a figure in imperial yellow stood by the window, with Wang Dequan and Tang Shiliang standing behind him on either side: "Your Majesty, the Qu family patriarch hasn't yet appeared, should we..."
"No rush," the Xuanwu Emperor said calmly. "Arrange for some servants to spread rumors around Lady Zhen, saying they often see Qu Pengfei entering and leaving the brothel district, suggesting he has... another family outside."
Wang Dequan responded with a "Yes" and withdrew. This strategy of pulling the rug out from under them would surely force the Qu family patriarch to show himself.
That day at lunch, Jiang Xinyue had Xiao Xiangzi invite Lady Ruan and her siblings to dine at the Changchun Pavilion.
After having her father drink some warm tea, Jiang Yankun spoke up: "Sister Yue, could you find a way to get some hair from Pei Sinian and Pei Zhishuo? Otherwise, that Miao woman will be the death of me and Eunuch Tang."
It turned out that Consort Zhang, who had poisoned the Emperor, wasn't actually surnamed Zhang - she was Miao Linlin's sister, who had eloped years ago with a man from outside the Miao village.
That man was the theater troupe leader Consort Zhang had mentioned.
When Jiang Yankun and Tang Shiliang first arrived at the Miao village, the villagers were very hostile toward them. The witch-poison clan wasn't just rejected by local villagers, but even other Miao tribes avoided contact with them.
As a result, they lived in difficult circumstances.
Jiang Yankun might not have had much else, but he had money. Whenever a family fell into financial trouble, he would throw money at them until the entire village accepted them.
This was especially true for Miao Linlin's family. It was said that her father had disappeared while searching for his daughter and hadn't returned home for three or four years. No one knew if he had died somewhere.
Her mother had been the village's most powerful witch-doctor in her youth, but years of feeding parasitic worms with her blood had taken a severe toll on her health.
Though only in her forties, she looked like an old woman, plagued by illness.
The witch-poison arts could harm and control people but couldn't save them.
Miao Linlin couldn't even afford medicine. Whenever she went down the mountain, people would see her Miao clothing and stay far away.
This was why she didn't refuse when Tang Shiliang first offered her money to guide them - she needed money for her mother's medicine and doctor's fees.
As they spent more time together, Miao Linlin, who had never encountered men from outside the village before, developed feelings for the knowledgeable and gentle Tang Shiliang.
Fearing they wouldn't get the antidote if he refused her, Tang Shiliang had to use his charm, coaxing her into giving them the antidote for the parasitic poison.
When they fled in the night, Tang Shiliang felt so guilty about deceiving the young girl that he left her all the silver he had.
But the next day, Miao Linlin chased after them on horseback, insisting on going with Tang Shiliang. If there hadn't been guards waiting to assist them at the foot of the mountain, they wouldn't have escaped so easily.
"However, when I travel, I use the names Pei Sinian and Pei Zhishuo. If that Miao woman tries to curse us, it's the Pei father and son who'll suffer the consequences."
Lady Ruan thought for a moment and asked hesitantly, "What kind of person is that young lady? If she's a good person, we should explain things clearly to her and not ruin her life. What do you think, Xinyue?"
Jiang Xinyue nodded: "Mother is right. If we explain it well, she'll surely understand."
It wasn't that Tang Shiliang wasn't good, but no sane woman would want to marry a eunuch.
"Good? What's good about her?" Jiang Yankun became angry at the mention of this. "She's not even married to him yet, but she tried to force Eunuch Tang to... to share a bed with her, claiming she needed to absorb yang energy to nourish the parasitic worms in her body. Knowing we had money, she asked us for money every day, buying expensive materials to feed her worms, treating us like her personal bank. Whenever we refused, she'd give us the cold shoulder. The day before we escaped, we overheard her planning to curse me and Tang Shiliang to make us obey her completely. How could such a person be good?"
If that was the case, they couldn't let her meet with Eunuch Tang again.
